XS Review: Licences, Accounts and Published Trading Terms

Data verified on: 28 July 2026 — by the Easy Trade Web editorial team

XS is a brokerage group that operates through several separate legal entities across different jurisdictions. Readers who open an account from the Middle East are contracted with its Seychelles-licensed entity, and that is the entity every figure on this page refers to.

What follows is what the company publishes on its own website: the entities and their licence numbers, the account types and their terms, spreads and commissions, the leverage cap and the condition attached to it, and funding limits with their stated processing times.

The method is deliberately narrow. Each figure was read from an official XS page on a stated date and is held in our records alongside the exact sentence it came from. Where the company publishes nothing, we say so and leave the figure out. There is a full section near the end listing what we could not document, because what a broker does not publish tells you something too.

Published terms at a glance

Check the current terms on the official XS website

Legal entities and licences

XS operates through several separate legal entities. Each has its own regulator, licence number and terms. The table lists them one row at a time, exactly as the company publishes them.

The UAE entity: what it is and what it is not

XSTrade Financial Consultation L.L.C holds licence 20200000339 from the UAE Securities and Commodities Authority. That carries weight for a reader in the region, because it is a locally supervised licence rather than an offshore one.

The distinction has to be drawn clearly, though. This entity’s registered activity is financial consultation, and none of the trading terms on this page are attributed to it. The spreads, commissions, leverage and funding limits shown here are published on general pages that carry no entity disclosure at all, and the contracting party in the published client services agreement is XS Ltd in Seychelles.

How to read a list of licences

The table above is not a trust score. Eight of the entities hold an actual regulatory licence, two are company registrations with no regulator, and for one the company does not name the supervising body in its own text. The useful reading is narrower than the list: look at the single entity that will contract with you, and at that entity’s regulator alone.

How to verify a broker’s licence yourself

General steps that apply to any brokerage, not only this one:

1. Identify the entity name that will contract with you. It is in the client services agreement or in the footer of the registration page — not in the brand name.
2. Take the licence number published for that specific entity, not any other number on the list.
3. Go to the regulator’s own website and search its public register by name or number.
4. Match three things at once: the entity name, the licence number, and whether the licence is current.
5. Check the licence type covers the activity. A financial consultation licence is not a brokerage licence, and a company registration is not a licence at all.

For the broader criteria that come before those steps, see how to choose a forex broker.

Account types

XS publishes four groups of accounts. The figures below come from each account’s own page and from the official help centre.

The published minimum trade size is 0.01 lot on most accounts and 0.1 lot on Micro, which a position size calculator will translate into an actual exposure figure.

Spreads and commissions

XS states that its spreads are floating across every account type and asset class, and that the figures shown in its contract specifications table are the average spread from the previous trading day rather than a best-case low. That definition matters when comparing brokers: an average and a ‘from’ figure are not the same measurement and cannot be placed side by side.

The published average EUR/USD spread runs from 2.1 on the Extra account down to 0.1 on Elite, VIP and Plus.

What we could not document: the contract specifications table is built in JavaScript and its data did not appear in the page source we read. Spreads on gold against the dollar (XAU/USD), sterling against the dollar (GBP/USD) and the dollar against the yen (USD/JPY) are therefore undocumented here, and we will not put a number to them.

The commission model works in the opposite direction to the spread. Zero-commission accounts carry a wider spread; commission accounts narrow the spread and charge a fixed amount per lot instead. On the Elite account the commission is 6 USD round turn, and XS states the full round-turn amount is charged when the position opens rather than when it closes.

Leverage and the condition attached to it

The maximum leverage XS publishes is 1:2000, but that number on its own is incomplete. Leverage here is dynamic — it steps down automatically under two models:

• Equity-based. As account equity rises, leverage falls. The published equity bands start at 0–1,000 and run up past 100,001. It applies to account types whose name ends in EQ.
• Lot-based. As the number of open lots on an instrument rises, leverage falls. It applies to every account type except Cent and Micro, on both MT4 and MT5.

The lot-based table as the company publishes it:

The gap between the headline 1:2000 and the lot table’s own ceiling of 1:500 for the smallest band is worth noticing. The leverage actually available to you depends on account type, position size and equity — not on the headline figure alone. A leverage calculator is the quickest way to see what each band does to a given position.

Two related levels are published: a margin call at 40% and a stop out at 20%, and a margin calculator will show how far a position sits from either one.

A note on risk: high leverage magnifies losses exactly as it magnifies gains, and a higher published ceiling is not a feature in itself. Negative balance protection is not published on any official page we read, which makes it a specific question worth asking before opening an account.

Swap-free accounts

XS states that swap-free status applies to every account type and is granted automatically to clients residing in Islamic countries. Clients in some non-Islamic countries receive it automatically as well, and others may request it, subject to eligibility checked with an account manager.

The company also states that it applies no additional charges on swap-free accounts — no widened spreads and no handling, storage or administration fees.

The exemption is not open-ended in time. A grace period applies and varies by instrument:

Worth separating: a swap-free account is an operational arrangement the broker publishes, not a certification of religious compliance. Whether a given instrument is permissible is a separate question for a qualified authority, and the mechanics are set out in Islamic trading accounts explained.

Platforms and tools

XS supports MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 through the browser, on Windows and Mac, and on the Play Store and App Store, alongside its own XS Trading app. The functional differences between the two versions are covered in MetaTrader 5 explained.

Platform availability is not uniform across accounts. Standard, Pro, Elite and Plus are available on both MT4 and MT5; Cent, Micro, VIP and the two copy-trading accounts are on MT5 only.

The company also lists AI tools, a currency converter and an economic calendar, a PAMM offering under its investors section, and copy trading through the Copy Standard and Copy Pro accounts on MT5, with instruments limited to currencies and metals (gold and silver).

Not published: we found no official page offering a virtual private server (VPS), and no page listing supported order types.

Markets and instruments

On the Standard account via MT5, XS lists currencies, metals, crypto, energies, indices, futures and shares. The mix varies by account and platform — the Cent account is limited to currencies and metals, and the Micro account adds energies and indices.

Not published: the company does not state an instrument count for any category, nor a total, on any official page we read. Any circulating figure for the number of XS instruments has no official source behind it, so we do not print one.

Deposits and withdrawals

Four funding methods are published: bank transfer, Visa and MasterCard, Skrill and Neteller. All four accept EUR, USD and GBP.

Two practical asymmetries stand out. The Neteller withdrawal ceiling is 2,500 USD while its deposit ceiling is 15,000 USD, so moving a large balance out through it takes several transactions. And card withdrawals are quoted at 7–10 working days, the slowest of the four.

Not published: deposit fees, withdrawal fees, currency conversion fees and inactivity fees. We found no official page or published document stating an amount for any of them. Silence in the published terms is not the same as an absence of charges, and this is worth asking about directly before funding an account.

Client money protection

XS states that client accounts are segregated from company funds and held in segregated accounts with financial institutions.

The company also publishes additional insurance covering losses in excess of 10,000 USD and up to 5,000,000 USD, against claims of omission, fraud, negligence and other risks that could lead to client financial loss, at no direct cost to the client. It states the programme is underwritten by Lloyd’s of London.

Read that carefully. Cover starts above 10,000 USD, so losses below that threshold fall outside it, and it is insurance against specific operational risks — not a guarantee against trading losses.

On investor compensation schemes, the company states plainly that the regulatory provisions vary depending on which XS entity you engage with, and publishes no figure or ceiling for any entity.

Not published: negative balance protection. It does not appear on the safety page or on any other official page we read.

Demo account

XS offers a free demo account funded with virtual money, and states it includes all the functionality and technical indicators of a live account.

Not published: the virtual balance amount and the expiry period. The company points to separate articles on renewing a demo account, expiry and topping up the balance, but the figures themselves are not in the main article.

Customer support

XS publishes 24/5 support through live chat and email, plus an official phone number, +248 432 3314. A complaints handling policy sits among its published legal documents and covers acknowledgement of receipt, investigation and status updates.

Not published: the languages support is offered in. No official page lists them.

Awards, and how to read them

The XS awards page carries a long list. In 2026 it includes ‘BEST CFDs BROKER’ from Rankia LATAM in Peru, ‘BEST FOREX BROKER’ from Rankia LATAM in Colombia, ‘BEST INVESTMENT PLATFORM’ from Rankia LATAM in Mexico, and ‘BEST IB PROGRAM’ from Wealth Expo Colombia. In 2025 it includes ‘BEST GLOBAL MULTI-ASSET BROKER’, ‘BEST MULTI-ASSET BROKER – APAC’ and ‘BEST MULTI-ASSET BROKER – AFRICA’ from the Traders Fair Awards run by FINEXPO, plus ‘BEST LEADERSHIP TEAM’ and ‘BEST AFFILIATE PROGRAM’ from Smart Vision events.

One qualification belongs alongside that list. The awarding bodies in these examples are trade-event and expo organisers, not regulators and not independent rating institutions. That does not invalidate the awards; it places them. They are industry-event recognition rather than a regulatory finding or an independent assessment against published criteria.

XS compared with four brokers at the same entity level

Three methodological notes before the table.

All five firms are compared through their Seychelles FSA-licensed entity and nothing else. That is deliberate: comparing an offshore entity against a capped European one produces a tidy table that is simply wrong. For a wider field beyond these five, see the broker comparison.

Any item one of the five does not publish officially was removed from the table entirely rather than filled with a dash. That cost us the average EUR/USD spread (two firms publish a ‘from’ figure at account level rather than a pair-level average), the founding year (not published by three of them), the minimum withdrawal (not published by three), and swap-free availability (Equiti publishes it only on its UAE site, not its Seychelles one).

There is no scoring column, no stars and no ranking. Figures and facts only; the judgement stays with the reader.

Who these terms may not suit

Descriptive, not directive, and based only on what is published:

• Anyone who needs to know non-trading costs upfront. Deposit, withdrawal, inactivity and conversion fees are all unpublished, which makes a full cost calculation impossible from official sources.
• Anyone who needs written negative balance protection. Not published on any official page we read.
• Anyone wanting a base currency other than USD, EUR or JPY. Those are the only published account currencies, and funding is accepted in EUR, USD and GBP only.
• Anyone who needs an instrument count in a specific category before opening an account. No counts are published.
• Anyone making large, frequent e-wallet withdrawals. The Neteller withdrawal ceiling is published at 2,500 USD.
• Residents of the USA, Iran and North Korea. The company states it does not offer services to them.

What the company does not publish

We include this section because an absence is itself information. We looked for each of the following on official pages and found no published statement, so we put no figure to them:

Not published anywhere official: deposit fees · withdrawal fees · inactivity fee · currency conversion fee · negative balance protection · instrument counts per category and in total · support languages · VPS service · demo account virtual balance and expiry · the VIP account commission amount · the number of company offices.

On the site but unreadable: the full contract specifications table (spreads on gold, sterling and the yen, contract sizes by asset class, and order types), and the leverage values inside the equity-based bands. These tables are built in JavaScript and their data did not appear in the source we read.

One conflict recorded: the naming of the UAE regulator. The regulations page writes ‘SCA’ and the footer writes ‘CMA’ inside the same phrase. The licence number is identical in both places (20200000339), and the body’s correct name is the Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA).

Verification methodology

• Sources: the official xs.com/en and xs.com/ar domains only, plus the client services agreement published on the site. No review site, comparison site or Wikipedia was used as a source for any figure.
• Date read: 28 July 2026.
• Documentation: every value shown here is held in our records alongside the source page URL and the exact sentence containing the figure, in its original language.
• Two passes: core values were re-read from a second independent source wherever one existed. Minimum deposits, spreads and account types were confirmed from both the product pages and the help centre. Funding limits were confirmed from both the funding pages and the help centre. The Standard account specification was confirmed from both the English and Arabic versions of the site.
• Where documentation failed: we wrote ‘not published’ or ‘could not access’ rather than filling the gap with judgement.
• Reference entity: all terms are attributed to XS Ltd, licensed in Seychelles under SD089. The account-type pages carry no entity disclosure, and the company states terms may vary by region.

Frequently asked questions

Is XS regulated?

Yes, through several entities each holding its own licence. The reference entity for the terms on this page is XS Ltd, registered in Seychelles and licensed by the Financial Services Authority there under SD089. The group also holds a UAE licence through XSTrade Financial Consultation L.L.C, number 20200000339 from the Securities and Commodities Authority, whose registered activity is financial consultation. Two further entries on the list — in Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines — are company registrations rather than regulatory licences.

What is the minimum deposit at XS?

There is no minimum on the Standard, Cent, Micro, Classic and Extra accounts. It is 500 USD on Pro and Elite, and 100,000 USD on VIP. The Plus account does not publish a minimum on its page.

Does XS offer swap-free accounts?

Yes. The company states swap-free status applies to every account type and is granted automatically to clients residing in Islamic countries, with no additional charges applied in exchange. A grace period applies and varies by instrument: 10 days on EUR/USD and GBP/USD, 2 days on USD/JPY, 5 days on gold, and none on shares.

What leverage does XS offer, and on what condition?

The published maximum is 1:2000, and it is dynamic — it falls automatically as account equity or the number of open lots rises. The published lot-based table opens at 1:500 for the 0–2 lot band and steps down to 1:5 at 40 lots and above, and it excludes the Cent and Micro accounts. High leverage magnifies losses as much as gains.

Does XS offer a demo account?

Yes, a free demo account funded with virtual money, which the company states includes all the functionality and technical indicators of a live account. The virtual balance amount and the expiry period are not published.

Does XS charge withdrawal fees, and how long do withdrawals take?

We found no official page stating an amount for withdrawal, deposit, inactivity or currency conversion fees, so we record them as not published. The published processing times are 1–7 working days for bank transfer, 7–10 working days for card withdrawals, 1 business day for Skrill and instant for Neteller. The published withdrawal minimums are 5 USD by card and 250 USD by bank transfer.

The official XS website